Monday, October 31, 2011

Animal Farm is perhaps the most popular and widely translated of the
books by George Orwell. Its relevance continues unabated because
leaders in democracies, no less than in autocracies, continue to behave
in the ways satirised in the novella.

Priya and Soma

When his first wife, Eileen O'Shaughnessy, died in 1943, Orwell left London
and went to the Hebrides Islands and worked there on Animal Farm from
Nov 1943 to Jan 1944. He published it (after initial rejections from
several publishers) in 1945 as the war was coming to an end.

Mathew, Sunil, Samuel, Bobby, and Sivaram

The
themes of Animal Farm cover a large canvas: Rebellion, Regime Change,
Propaganda and Duplicity, Violence and Terror as Means of Control,
Exploitation, Human Rights, Obsequiousness, Silent Acceptance of
Despotism, etc. These themes were discussed, with illustrations from global and
local politics.

Priya, Thommo, KumKum, and Talitha

KRG welcomes four new readers in our midst. Here they are with the others gathered for a group photograph:

Sunday, October 2, 2011

The attendance at this session was scanty, although it had been postponed once for the same reason. However, the session was extraordinarily intimate. Two English poets, an American and a Spanish poet were recited; three were men, and one a woman.

KumKum, Talitha, and Thommo

We are resolved to get a few more committed readers in order to enjoy the customary liveliness the sessions have always had. The next will be on Oct 28, 2011 to read Animal Farm by George Orwell.

The question of art and science, and whether a scientist may have the same refined appreciation of nature and poetry as an artist came under discussion. Eugenics too was a subject of debate. Here are the foursome at the end: